


Sing To The Dawn

by charamanda



Category: Haikyuu!!, ダイヤのA | Daiya no A | Ace of Diamond
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, F/M, Original Character(s), Original Female Character - Freeform, mermaid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-06-09 05:55:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6892789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charamanda/pseuds/charamanda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So updates are gonna take quite a while, as I've said. But I'll try my best to do it often. Til next time, then <3</p>
        </blockquote>





	1. First Impressions Matter

"Oi, Eri. Stop staying out of the water so often. You'll get dehydrated." Looking back at her older friend, the blonde smiled.

"It's fine. You don't have to worry about me so much, y'know." She flicks her tail in the water, relaxed as she stares at the blue sky. Sighing, the raven-haired male swims up to her, resting next to her.

"You like staring at the sky so much?" She nods her head quite absentmindedly, a dreamy smile upon her lips. Looking at her as he chuckled, he shook his head.

"Stop dreaming about walking on dry land. I mean, we could, but it hurts, remember?"

"Don't worry so much, Daichi. I'm not gonna do it again. I've learnt from my mistakes." He couldn't help but glance at the one defect on her otherwise perfect tail and closed his eyes, in both regret and slight anger. Feeling her featherlight touch on his bare skin, a smile came to him rather easily as he reached out to hold her hand in his.

"Don't worry. I'm fine." She mirrors his expression and pulls her hand away when a certain bearded mermaid swims over.

"Asahi! Why are you here so early?" He opens his mouth to reply but is interrupted by a loud duo.

"ERI!"

"ERI-CHAN!" Flinching slightly, she holds her hands out to stop them from slamming right into her. But Daichi easily pulls them away and looks at them sternly.

"Oh, Daichi-san. Didn't see you there." Said male opens his mouth to retort but the bald boy cuts in, both literally and figuratively.

"Eri-chan! Kiyoko-san asked us to bring you to her and so we're going to do that as fast as possible. See ya, Daichi-san, Asahi-san!" They each grab one of her hands and began swimming off at top speed.

"HEY-" Daichi sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose as he follows them slowly, preparing a lecture in his mind already.

\-----

"LEADER! I HAVE CAUGHT A FISH FOR YOU!" The raven-haired male let out a sigh as he gestured for the younger to put it aside. He had come to the lakeside for some quiet time but somehow, this noisy newcomer had found his way here. It wasn't as if Yuuki had anything against this boy, if anything, this boy would be pleasant to be around. Just not when someone is trying to get some rest and time away from the others. As if the younger male had read his mind, he began telling him his reason for coming for him.

"Leader, I have a message from Miyuki Kazuya! He says, "Yo, Tetsu-san! I'm sending Sawamura to disturb- I meant to offer his service to you. You can tell him to do anything but come back. Well then, have fun~", is what he says, Leader!" Sawamura keeps his scroll in his cloth bag and breathes out noisily.

"Thank you for giving me a chance to serve you!" Yuuki sighs again as he looks up at Sawamura, thinking of something to send him away to allow him some peace and tranquility. Thinking back on what Miyuki had said, he can ask Sawamura to do anything except go back to the castle. Well then, that's exactly what he'll do.

"Go clean the stables, Sawamura. Don't come back until it is clean."

"YES, LEADER!" The boy runs off quickly and a small smile appears on Yuuki's face as he finally gets to enjoy his alone time. A small gust of wind just then blows his cape into the lake and he curses, missing it by just an inch. Giving up on it as it sinks below the surface, he lies back down on the grass and stares at the sky. He sits back up almost immediately, though, when he hears disturbance on the surface of the lake.

\-----

Listening through the king's lecture, Erika sighed. _/This is so boring. Please, O Heavens, just give me something to allow me to leave./_ She stares at the surface of the lake as she prays and upon squinting her eyes, she finds a reason to leave. Looking alert, she looks at the king and gives her best puppy eyes.

"O King, I have understood the severity of not adhering to the rules. I will now pick up any litter that I find and throw it out of the lake." She salutes and rockets towards the sinking object, grabbing it as her head shoots out of the lake. She finds a man, looking very, _/very/_ , very confused, shocked and scared at the same time. It's not as though he showed it but it's more of the blonde sensing it. She grins and holds up the wet cape.

"This yours?" He takes a moment to nod firmly and reaches a hand out to take it when she holds it out to him.

"What are you doing in the water? The weather's getting cold. You should come out of the water-" He cuts himself off when he realized that from where the water is covering Erika to her shoulder, she didn't have anything on. A very faint pink hue appeared on his cheeks as he turns his head away and offers his extra shirt.

"Here. Wear this as you come out." _Oh, he thinks that I'm a human. Oh, crap. This is gonna hurt. Big time._  She moves to dry land and her tail turns into a pair of long, white legs as she exits the water. Grabbing the shirt, she collapses onto the ground and manages to cover herself up before collapsing onto the ground.

Noticing that she hadn't called out to him, Yuuki wondered if she was done. He mutters an apology as he turns his head around with shut eyes at first and slowly opens them when no screams were heard. Finding that she was unconscious on the ground, his first reaction was shock, then came the realization that he might have to return to the palace earlier than planned.

He bends down to scoop her up in his arms and tries his best to avoid staring at the now soaked shirt. Just then, he hears loud stomping echoing throughout the otherwise quiet forest and twists his body just enough to keep Sawamura's eyes away from the lady in his arms.

"LEADER, I HAVE DONE MY DUTIES."  _Haruichi must have helped him, huh._ He shook his head and looked at the younger male.

"Pass me your cape, Sawamura." He blinks in confusion and tilts his head.

"Why, sir?"

"Just give it to me, Sawamura. Hurry up." Said boy hurriedly removes the piece of clothing and hands it over, which Yuuki takes and throws over the female in his arms.

"Who's that in your arms, Leader?" He glanced over at Sawamura and realized that he himself didn't even know a thing about this girl and yet he picked her up just like that. Yuuki shrugged and continued walking towards the palace with Sawamura trailing behind quietly, which is a pretty rare feat. He glances at the younger male and finds him staring intently at the lady in his arms. Feeling annoyed for some reason, he tilts his body in a way which blocks Sawamura's view of her.

 _Wait a minute. What am I doing?_ With a deep frown, Yuuki looks at Erika.  _What are you?_

\-----

Erika wakes up to a splitting headache and groans as she brings up a hand to her head, noticing the sleeve covering her arm. She blinks twice before looking around her and notices that she is somewhere unfamiliar. Very unfamiliar. Pushing herself up into a seating position, she finds herself in some expensive-looking dress and tries her best to recall the events that happened before she passed out.

"Oh, that guy! Could he be some rich guy or an important person?" She swings her legs over the bed and stands wobbily.

"Yikes, I need some getting used to the legs." Nonetheless, she was thankful for the clothes. As she recalled the last time she ran into some tribe that does not wear clothes on a regular basis, goosebumps appeared on her arms. Two loud knocks distracted her from her thoughts and she raised her head to look at the incoming stranger. The door swings open and a boy with short black hair appears.

"Oh, I see that you have awoken. This is perfect! Let's go see Leader to tell him you're awake!" Without any further words, his hand latches onto her wrist and begins dragging her down the hallway.

"Eh? L-Leader? Who is that? Also, where am I and who are you?" He halts in his tracks and turns around with a wide, excited smile.

"Oh, what can I do? Since you want to know so much, I'll tell you."

"Ah, actually, it's-"

"My name is Sawamura Eijun and I will be the best knight of this castle! I will protect the people with all of my strength and then I'll be super popular!" He begins laughing in a loud manner and a flying kick is delivered out of nowhere.

"Shuddup, Sawamura! You're way too noisy!" A green-haired male scowls at the boy on the floor while his pink-haired companion observes Erika. Feeling a little weirded out and self-conscious, she rubs her arm and looks away.

"Oh? Who're you? Are you Sawamura's-" He gasps loudly and widens his eyes as he looks back forth between said boy and Erika before completing his sentence in a soft whisper. "Girlfriend?"

"What? No! I literally just met him today."

"That's right! She's Leader's girlfriend! I was about to bring her to him." She raises her eyebrow and opens her mouth to ask just who the heck is 'Leader' when the green-haired male clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth loudly.

"That so? Well, I guess Tetsu-san would date such a pretty girl. Quickly bring her over, Bakamura." Sawamura salutes and grabs Erika's arm again, rushing down the hallway. Tired of being interrupted, the blonde decided to just follow him to take a look at 'Leader'. Sawamura stops right in front of a large wooden door and knocks on it loudly.

"LEADER! I HAVE BROUGHT YOUR GIRLFRIEND!" There is loud exclamations and shouts coming from the inside as running can be heard right before the door is flung open, revealing a bearded man, a bald and tall man, a bald and fat man, a rather good looking man and the man from the lake.

"Oi, Tetsu. This girl's your girlfriend? She looks pretty good. Why haven't ya introduced her to us?" The bearded man looks over at the man from the lake and he looks up, rather confused and all.

"Ah, are you 'Leader'?" Erika asks almost immediately when their eyes meet and all eyes fall onto him as he nods slowly.

"Aren't ya his girlfriend? Why wouldn't ya know him?"

"That is because I am not his girlfriend. Sawamura-kun here was spouting nonsense. I met Leader-san at the lake earlier." The bearded man glares at Sawamura and rolls his sleeves up.

"Sa. Wa. Mu. RAA!" He tackles the male next to her and holds him in a headlock as the rather good looking man comes forward.

"Hello there. My name is Takigawa Chris Yuu. The man Sawamura has been calling Leader is our captain, Yuuki Tetsuya. The man currently torturing Sawamura is Isashiki Jun, the vice-captain. The other vice-captain is this bald and huge man, Masuko Tooru. Then, we have this tall and bald man who is the head knight, Tanba Koichirou." He introduces the men with a light smile and turns back to her.

"You are...?"

"Oh, my name is Erika, Akita Erika." She bows her head respectfully, glad to have a normal person around. Well, there has got to be someone normal if there are so many weird people, right? She feels an arm sling around her shoulders and she flinches away in shock, staring at a grinning man.

"And that, would be our strategist, Miyuki Kazuya." She bows her head curtly at the grinning man and Sawamura steps in, grabbing the man by the front of his garments. He lifts him up and shakes him violently.

"Oi, MIYUKI KAZUYA! ACT LIKE A PROPER STRATEGIST, WILL YOU?"

"Ah, but you're not acting like a proper knight-in-training either." Through all the fuss, Yuuki manages to slip away but Erika immediately follows him.

"Hey, um, Yuuki, right? Thanks for bringing me here." He pauses and turns around to nod his head in acknowledgment before continuing to walk forth. Feeling pretty awkward, Erika just continues to follow him until he stops in front of a guarded door.

"Good day, Yuuki-san. That girl behind you is..." He glances behind him and Erika looks away.

"Stay here." He says - orders- and walks into the room, Erika barely catching a glimpse of the people inside before the door is shut tight. The guards stare at her out of curiosity and she feels self-conscious. She moves to the side and stares up at the sky, thinking about how she is going to get back to the lake when she feels dizzy.

 _Oh crap. I think I have been out for too long. Have I drank any water?_ She sways and gives up on trying to stabilize herself and falls into something warm. Looking up with half-lidded eyes, she finds Yuuki staring back at her with a slight frown.

"Why are you always fainting? Stop making others worried." He bends down to carry her in his arms and promptly walks in the opposite direction of the guards.

"What were you doing? You came out really fast."

"You're talking too much to be faint. Are you well enough to walk?" Erika puffs up her cheeks and leans her head against his shoulder.

"Fine, fine. I'll keep quiet." A small smile creeps onto her lips as she closes her eyes, listening to the sound of his armor clinking as he walked.

\-----

It's been awhile since she fell silent, leaving Yuuki alone with his thoughts.  _Is she really asleep?_ He glances down at her and finds her sound asleep, snuggling against his chest with a small smile on her face. Feeling his cheeks getting heated, he quickly looks forward again and walks faster. He ends up before his room before he knows it and sighs inwardly. He really doesn't want to walk back all the way to the opposite side of the palace right now. He pushes the door open and sets her down on the bed before moving to remove his armor.

"Don't... alone..." The raven-haired male turns back to stare at her intently when he hears her voice and only resumes changing out of his clothes when he realizes she is only talking in her sleep. Yawning loudly, he looks at the bed and deems it big enough for the both of them to lie on it before moving to rest on it. Before he realizes it, he is looking at her peaceful sleeping face with a small smile as he slowly falls asleep himself.


	2. Two (or more) Heads Are Better Than One

It seemed as though she hadn't opened her eyes even though she had and she figured that it was probably night already. Sitting up, she felt something heavy draped across her waist hold her down and she frowned, reaching out to touch whatever it was.

"A hand?" She said out loud and as her eyes adjusted to the dark, she found herself staring right at the man who had brought her back from the lake.  _Oh, that reminds me. I have to get back soon or Father is going to get mad._ She thought to herself but realizes that she is unwilling to move as she continues staring at the man's sleeping face. Unconsciously, she reaches out and begins to trace his features with a finger. First, his nose, then, his chin and finally, her finger rests on his lips.

"They're so dry." She commented as she leans in to get a better look and the door flies open at this moment.

"LEADER, I HAVE-Oh." The loud boy cuts himself off when he sees them on the bed and the blanket is covering them. He immediately turns red and covers his eyes, turning around.

"I'M SO SORRY!"

"See, I told you to knock before you just rush in like that. Sorry about this idiot, Erika-san." A boy with pink hair covering his eyes bow and she could see that his own cheeks were very red as well. Sighing, she removed the blanket to go over and explain everything but she hears a rustling noise next to her and turns her head to look.

"It's nothing much, Kominato. You weren't interrupting anything at all. I'm not angry or anything."  _Liar, you look like you're going to kill them for interrupting your sleep._ She grumbles in her mind and her cheeks turn pink at the thought of them sharing a bed.

"Why were we in the same bed?" She whispered to the man next to her but it seems as though that she was too loud and Kominato's face looks as though it was about to just explode.

"Because I fell asleep after you did. Were you expecting me to sleep on the floor?" She shook her head almost immediately and another man comes running.

"Sir!" He salutes and Yuuki does the same, gesturing for him to speak.

"There is someone here for Ms. Erika! He says that his name is Sawamura!" The boy with the same first name blinks in confusion and Erika's face darkens slightly. Yuuki, noticing this, nods his head and waves his subordinate away.

"Do you want me to send this person away?" She blinks before smiling softly and shakes her head, swinging her legs over the bed.

"No. It's time for me to go back afterall." He nods and gets off the bed as well, walking over to shut the door first.

"I'll go down with you. Just give me a minute while I put on my clothes and all." She bows her head in acknowledgment and waits at the door with her back facing him.

\----------

He dresses rather slowly, something unlike him, as he watches her. She seemed a little upset when she heard that name, he noticed, and she had a sad smile on when she said it was time for her to go. Towering over her once he was done, he places a hand on the door to prevent it from being opened and spoke quietly.

"Are you sure you want to go?" She looks up at him with wide, brown eyes as if in shock and turns away, nodding her head. He retracts his hand and pulls the door open, his armour clinking loudly behind her.

"Let's go, then." The two boys at the door look at them in confusion but quickly trails after their captain.

"Hey, Erika-san? You're going already?" She nods with a small smile at the noisy boy's question and he pouts.

"It's been so long since we had someone like you here at the castle. It's always been some noble."

"Eijun-kun!" The pink-haired boy scolded and bowed in apology to Erika.

"Sorry about Eijun-kun, Erika-san."

"No, it's fine, really."  _She seems as if she's sad._ Yuuki observes but continues walking until they reach the gates of the castle, where a lone, dark-haired male stood, looking out for other living creatures. Noticing them, a smile appears on his face as he takes a step forward.

"Hello there." He says as he bows towards Yuuki and eyes Erika, who is behind him. Stopping himself from stepping before her, he cleared his throat and looked the other man in the eye.

"You're Sawamura? How do I know I can trust you to bring Erika back safely?"

"Well, you can ask her yourself if I'm trustworthy or not." He doesn't do so but glances at her and sees her nod briefly before looking at the man again. Wanting to come up with reasons to stop Erika from leaving, he once again stops himself and gestures for his subordinates to move aside so she can come forward. She walks forward with an unreadable expression and stops right in front of Yuuki, with her back facing him.

"If..." He quirks an eyebrow as he waits for her next words and hold back from grabbing her shoulder and turning her around to face him. He doesn't need to do so because she does it herself with a pained expression but she is smiling nevertheless.

"If you ever want to see me again, just come back to the lake." With that, she quickly leaves with the man who came for her and leaves the rest of them confused, especially Eijun.

"Leader? What does she mean by that?"

"Nothing. Go back and do your work." He mutters but they hear it loud and clear and immediately clear the premises. Taking one last look at the forest before the castle, he walks back in and straight to his room.

\----------

"Eri-chan, are you mad?" She doesn't answer and continues to walk ahead of him at a fast pace. He sighs as he struggles a little to catch up with her and jump over the branch that almost trips him.

"Erika." His serious tone makes her stop in her tracks almost immediately and she slowly turns to face him, bracing herself for a scolding but a warm, large hand falls onto her head before she could fully face him. She looks up in surprise and finds a soft expression on his face. He removes his hand to envelope her in a bear hug and pats her back gently.

"You scared me when you disappeared all of a sudden this morning. Don't ever do that, you hear?" She nods and stays still before feeling the need to get rid of this tense atmosphere.

"Jeez, what are you? My dad?" He chuckles and pulls away, shaking his head.

"The King has been pretty upset, ordering us all to come ashore to look for you. It's fine for Asahi and the rest of the older ones but the younger ones were complaining of pain when they came up." He informed as he pinches her nose gently, causing her to pout.

"Well, I would've been fine anyway! Let go before it turns red!" She smacks at his arm and he lets go, laughing heartily.

"Let's go back for now and show the King that you're fine."

"Race ya there." She says all of a sudden and begins running with a wide grin.

"Hey-! Ah, this girl." Daichi shakes his head and starts to chase after her, coming to a stop when he sees her standing by the lake already. The moonlight is giving her a angel-like glow as she stares up at the sky with a small smile. As if noticing him, she turns her head to look at him and widened her smile, beckoning him over.

"Come on over!" He shakes his head to focus again and jogs over, putting on a small smile of his own.

"What? What are you looking at?" She smiled and pointed at the sky.

"Look, the North Star is so bright today! And it's not alone." She looks at him and tries to get him to look at where she is pointing but he can't stop staring at her, causing her to puff up her cheeks unhappily.

"Daichi! What's wrong? Why do you seem so out of it?" He scratches at the back of his head with a sheepish smile.

"Nah, it's nothing. Let's go in for now, yeah?" Sulking for a moment, she nods her head reluctantly and drop into the lake after him, their legs turning into its natural state and their garments shed off.

"Erika!" The booming voice cause her to jump and swim to the side to avoid crashing into the large man speeding over.

"Father! That was extremely dangerous-"

"I'm so glad you're safe." He whispers as he envelops his daughter into a crushing hug and stroke her hair in a soothing manner. Relaxing into the hug, she smiled softly and wrapped her arms around her father's back.

"Sorry for making you worry." He pulls back so suddenly that she flinches and finds a stern expression on his face.

"Don't ever disappear just like that, understood? We couldn't even stop that human since we can't risk being found out. You made us all very worried." She smiles sheepishly and bowed her head in apology.

"I'm really sorry about that. I just needed to go out for a while." He watched her in silence and puts on a warm smile.

"Alright. Go back to your mother. She's worried sick."

"Yes, sir!" She saluted playfully and began swimming off at full speed towards the underwater palace, approaching a crying woman by the window swiftly but quietly.

"May I ask who caused those tears of yours, lady?" The older but more graceful woman turned around in surprise, widening her eyes once she sees who it was.

"Erika!" She called out and threw her arms around her daughter, a relieved smile on her lips. Pulling away, she takes a good look at the young mermaid before her expression turns stern. Just as the blonde was about to run away, streams of current prevent her from doing so.

"Mother!" She cries out and pouts but the woman maintains her stern expression and fold her arms over her chest.

"Who gave you permission to go to the surface? You know you're not allowed to go there. What if you had exposed the whole clan to those humans? Do you know how much danger you put all of us in?" The pout disappears as those words sink in but unwilling to admit her mistakes, she continues looking away from her mother, the queen.

"Do you know how much danger you put yourself in?" She finished with a soft sigh, both her tone and expression softening. Tears welled up in the blonde's eyes as she sniffled.

"Sorry, Mom. I promise you I won't do something so reckless again." The night went by just like that, with no more events.

\----------

The first thing he did when he woke up was of course wash up, then he headed to the lake once more.  _She did say if I wanted to look for her, I could come here, right?_ He frowned a little as he looked around.  _What made me think that she was going to be here early in the morning?_ He sighed and turned around, ready to leave when Eijun, Haruichi, Kuramochi and Ryousuke came running over.

"LEADER!"

"Yo, Tetsu-san!" Somehow, Eijun trips over something invisible and pushes the other three, the four of them rolling towards Yuuki in a whole bunch.

"SAVE US, LEADER~!" The called man simply steps aside and allows them to roll into the lake, thinking that they were capable of swimming.

"Ah, h-help! We can't swim!" Hearing Haruichi's cry for help, Yuuki regrets his initial decision and jumps into the water after them. Then, something weird happens. They are slowly being pushed to the side of the lake, where the water is more shallow. Yuuki takes a quick peek under water and finds a familiar girl staring back at him. He grabs at her arm and pulls her to the surface, where he can get a better look.

"Erika?!" His calls attracted the attention of the others and they stare in wonder as she struggles in his grip.

"What were you doing in the water, Erika-chan?" Kuramochi questioned as he wrings the water out of his shirt and looks at her, noticing her bare shoulders. Well, all of them did and their cheeks simultaneously turn red as they turn away in embarrassment.

"S-Sorry!" Only Yuuki continues to stare. He had noticed her shimmering tail that was helping her to stay afloat. A frown appeared on his brows as he glanced downwards once more and back at her face. She had a unreadable expression on her face as she stared back at him, trying to free herself from his iron grip. When she finally did, she turned away from him.

"Are you...?"

"Please don't tell anyone. Pretend that I'm already gone." He quickly grabs onto her when she is about to swim away and turns her around to face him.

"Wha-"

"You don't have to run away. If you're scared of threatening your clan, we can think of something." Yuuki's serious face made her falter a little but she shook her head firmly.

"That's not possible. You humans persecute everything that you find different so if I allow your king to know of my existence, all members of my clan are going to die.  _I will die._ " She adds on with a hurt expression and attempts to pull her arms back to her again when he tightens his grip.

"We don't have to let him know." She stopped struggling for a minute and looked at his face with a slight frown.

"We don't?" He shook his head and released her arms with a small, apologetic smile.

"We don't. We can just keep it to ourselves, right? Besides, the boys have already seen you. It's going to be hard to keep it under wraps, wouldn't it?" She thinks over it seriously for a minute before nodding her head slowly.

"I hope this means you can help me keep this a secret." A small smile appeared on his chapped lips as he nodded.

"Of course."

\----------

"You're a mermaid?!" Eijun exclaims rather loudly and Kuramochi lunges at him, covering his mouth with an annoyed expression.

"Didn't we say that this has to be kept a secret, Bakamura? Don't be so stupid!" He scolded and the younger male huffs, nodding his head as he points to the hand covering his mouth and nose furiously. Once the hand was gone, he took several deep breaths and breathed out heavily.

"Well, at least it explains your exotic looks, Erika-san." Haruichi suggests with a small smile and she beamed at him, acknowledging his compliment.

"Thank you, Harucchi! That's very kind of you."

"H-Harucchi?"

"Ah, that's what Eijun-kun calls you, no? Or would you rather me call you Haru-chan?" She tilts her head with an innocent smile, taking note of Haruichi's increasingly red cheeks.

"Hyahaha! You can just call him whatever you like, Erika-san! It's not like he cares, right little brother?" Hearing that nickname, Erika tilted her head in confusion and looked at Yuuki.

"Kuramochi-san and Haurcchi are brothers?"

"Ah, that's not it. He's my younger brother so most people call him little brother to avoid mixing the both of us." Ryousuke explains and she nods her head, understanding.

"Ah, I see. My clansmen don't call me by my last name too. Most just call me Erika."

"Oh, you have siblings?" Eijun asked with his head cocked to the side as he holds onto Kuramochi's arm, which was grabbing him from behind. She shook her head with a soft smile.

"No, because if they called me by my last name, it would be disrespect to the King. But that's what they feel, since my father had said that it was fine." Noticing the sudden silence, Erika blinked.

"What's wrong?"

"You're not only a mermaid but you're also a princess?!" Confused, she nodded before tilting her head to the side, not sure what is wrong.

"Why? Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong but you're a fricking princess! There's gonna be a huge problem if you were captured! Thank God Miyuki isn't here!" Kuramochi huffed and released Eijun before facing Yuuki.

"This is a problem, indeed. But on the other hand, isn't it better since she will be able to negotiate with the king?" He questioned and rubbed his chin in thought.  _Maybe I could discuss this with Kataoka-san. He might be able to do something._

"In the first place, I don't think it is illegal for mermaids to be on land?" Haruichi raised the point with a questioning tone and Erika shook her head.

"Your king has attempted to capture my people in the past. My clansmen simply cannot trust you humans. Even though we have been left alone, it's only because your king has not yet found us again."

"How long ago are you talking about? Because our previous king had passed away five years ago and Mei has taken over."

"Is that so?" A smile appeared on Erika's face as she brightened up.

"Then there might be a chance for us to live on land too! Maybe somewhere away from this lake!"

"I'm afraid that that is not possible." Her eyes widened as she turned around to see the imposing man behind her with his arms folded across his chest.

"F-Father! I-I can explain-" He held a hand up, stopping her from continuing.

"Your current king has the same ideals as the previous kings. He has ordered his closest aides to continue their search for us and I know this because just the other day, I saw a man, clad in the same uniform as all of you with books about us." The men blinked in surprise. They did not know about this information but they could guess who it was.

"Was it a dark-skinned man?"

"Yes, yes it was. Is he an acquaintance?"

"Not exactly but he has supported Mei-sama ever since he was a prince. Mei-sama gathered his current guard so they are loyal to him." Haruichi explained but both Kuramochi and Ryousuke scoffed loudly.

"Haruichi, you don't have to be so polite when he's not around. You can call him by his natural name, Son-of-a-dog." The younger boy gasped loudly at the insult and looked around as if someone were looking at them, frowning at his older brother.

"Nii-san! You mustn't say such disrespectful things. He is our king afterall!" Clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth loudly, Ryousuke frowned at his brother as well.

"He wouldn't have been king if he hadn't resorted to dirty tricks. Tetsu-san should've been king." Erika whipped her head around almost immediately and stared at said male.

"Y-You are a prince?" He shook his head at the question, much to the confusion of the girl.

"We are just knights, actually. But since our king has no descendants, us knights take over as his heir. The ones chosen were Mei and I but Mei was chosen in the end." He explained with a small smile and Kuramochi immediately slams his hand against the earth, anger evident on his face.

"He resorted to dirty tricks, that bastard!"

"What do you mean?" The blonde asked, frowning slightly.

"Mei, that bastard, caused Tetsu-san to be unable to fight him, therefore he won by default. He isn't a good candidate!"

"Kuramochi, you don't have proof that my food poisoning was Mei's doing."

"Hell yeah, I do! He wanted to be king so bad that he would kill for it!" Kuramochi insisted, frowning at Yuuki. The older man lets out a sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Kuramochi... Mei has been a good king, hasn't he? Let's just leave it like that, then."

"But, Tetsu-san-"

"It's fine. i want to leave a peaceful life from now on." The green haired man groaned in return but kept quiet after that.  
  
"So... Back to the topic of the mermen. I'm sorry but you'll have to stop seeing my daughter." Yuuki was the first to react. He widened his eyes and shook his head immediately, his brows beginning to furrow.  
  
"I'm sure we'll be able to do something about this. It doesn't have to end up with you guys having to hide all the time." The captain said in an almost pleading tone and the king sighed, humming a little.

"We'll think about it. Let's go for now, Erika."

"Eh~" She pouts, wanting to spend more time with the humans but her father gives her a glare, causing her to swallow and nod.

"Well then, I'll see you guys the next time~" She waved her hand and dived under water, but not before she leaned forward with a peck on Yuuki's cheek. He pinked as he watched the surface of the water calm down again.

"Heh, Tetsu-san, looks like you got yourself a new admirer, eh?" He cleared his throat and gathered his belongings before getting to his feet.

"Let's go back for now, and think up of something."

"Yessir!" They simultaneously call out and ran after their leader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So updates are gonna take quite a while, as I've said. But I'll try my best to do it often. Til next time, then <3

**Author's Note:**

> I will probably only update this every weekend or so because, school. *sighs* Also, I don't think I will be writing long chapters for now, probably every few chapters.


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